Allies to Help
Allies ''to ''He''lp'' Episode Three, Season Eight, of Cold. Enjoy <3 Allies to Help We had been traveling for days. So many days of trekking through the snow, praying that someone would find us and help us. I sat down to rest, my paws aching. “If we don’t find shelter soon, my paws are going to fall off.” I grumbled, licking my paw. We were all tired, hungry, and in a bad mood. For days we’ve barely scraped by with one piece of prey. There’s nothing in this barren wasteland. Wavepaw and Mosspaw came trotting back, with only a scrawny hawk in their jaws. “This is all we could get.” “I’m surprised they got a bird instead of fish,” Frosty grunted, as she stood up. Kitkat was too busy grooming to reply. Brownhare bounded forward and split the hawk into six pieces. I sighed when I received mine and bit off a chunk. “Try not to eat too fast,” Brownhare advised, “If you eat slower, you’ll feel less hungry.” Wavepaw was already half-way down with his piece and he looked up sheepishly. “There’s barely enough though!” he wailed, “Saving it and eating it now won’t do a thing to satisfy my stomach.” “I’ll hunt next time,” I volunteered, though I was exhausted, “We should try to find some shelter and rest up.” Brownhare leaned over and murmured, “We need some real food and shelter and soon. If not, we’ll all just freeze to death one night and never get back up.” I shivered in slight fear and nodded my agreement. “I’m going hunting,” I sighed. Frosty eyed me with jealousy. “What if you eat all the prey you catch? Like those greedy apprentices did?” “They didn’t eat any prey except the hawk they caught,” I snapped, “They’re as hungry as the rest of us are.” Frosty snarled and bared her teeth, “I’m going with you.” I rolled my eyes, “Fine.” We padded out and I sniffed the air for prey. There was a faint scent of mouse, but I could barely track it. Frosty scavenged around and I decided it was better to follow the mouse trail. After tracking it for a bit, I finally found the mouse nosing it’s way through the snow. I crouched low and began to stalk it. I leaped and I sank my teeth into its scruff. “You’re eating it!” Frosty’s haughty voice sounded behind me, “I knew it!” “I just killed it,” I sighed, exasperated, “I bet if you caught it it’d be down in your belly in no time.” “I need a way to survive, don’t I?” Frosty sneered, “I’ll do whatever I can to do that.” She whirled around and stalked off. ~ I managed to catch a vole after that too, and I brought back my findings to our little makeshift camp. Frosty had caught a crow. I don’t know if she ate anything else, but I doubted it because she wouldn’t want to eat it all only for Kitkat to starve. We split up the prey, our stomachs fuller than they’ve been for awhile. “Let’s rest then start walking again,” I mewed, curling up under the trees, hoping the snow wouldn’t be too much of a bother for me to sleep on. Brownhare curled up next to me, his pelt pressing reassuringly against mine. I savored his warmth and weight against me, wishing I could sink into this moment and not have to deal with anything else. “You’re not alone, Shade,” Brownhare murmured into my ear, “We’re here to help too, don’t forget that.” I smiled slightly and closed my eyes. “I know, Brownhare, I know.” ~ I woke up to a raging snowstorm. I could barely make out Brownhare’s pelt next to me. He was already awake, his yellow eyes wide with worry. Fear coursed through me as I looked around wildly for the others. “Where are they?” I shouted over the howling of the wind. Brownhare shook his head and I sank into the snow in despair. Brownhare nosed me up and jerked his head towards some random direction. We have to go find them, Brownhare was telling me, We can’t give up on them. I remembered Reedtail from a long time ago; how he had been blown away by a snowstorm shortly after Storm’s first adventure had begun. I couldn’t let that happen to any of my cats. Standing, I joined Brownhare as we struggled to walk forward through the swirling snow. “This way,” Brownhare mouthed, “They were sleeping over here.” I didn’t ask how Brownhare knew where they were. I just trusted him to find the others and help us reunite. I was especially worried for the two young apprentices. Their father, after all, had been blown away by a snowstorm; surely they wouldn’t follow in his footsteps? “Shade!” I heard wailing in front of us, “Help me!” Panic flared through me and I began to move faster, pushing against the wind towards the shrill voice. “I’m coming!” I shouted, hoping whoever he was would be able to hear me, “Hold on!” Brownhare got behind me and began to help me fight the storm. He pushed me onwards so that the wind couldn’t push my backwards. I gritted my teeth as I fought with my imaginary opponent, hoping I could reach whoever it was in time. “Shade, Wavepaw’s going to be blown away!” This time I could tell it was Mosspaw. “I’m going to be right there!” I yowled, “Just a little longer, okay?” Wavepaw’s distressed yowls reached my ears. Mosspaw’s frantic yowling didn’t help either. But Brownhare didn’t say another word of encouragement as he continued to push me along. Even when we nearly tumbled backwards when a tough bout of wind nearly blew us over, he didn’t give up. It was his quite courage and strength that helped me push through. The wind continued to howl its despair around us, but we were no longer in its embrace. “Hurry,” Brownhare urged, “I will go make sure Frosty and Kitkat are alright.” I doubted the two rogues would need help, but I nodded in agreement. “We’ll meet back at the den, okay?” “Okay.” My gaze lingered on the brown tom for a moment longer before I hurried towards the two apprentices. “Where’s Wavepaw?” I asked Mosspaw, who was clinging onto the tree trunk as if her life depended on it (well it did). She nodded fearfully up the tree. I followed her gaze and sucked in my breath when I saw the small dark gray tom. He was stuck on a thin tree branch that was barely supporting him. He let out a piercing wail that sent shivers down my spine. “Hold on, Wavepaw,” I told him, “I’m coming.” Bracing myself, I clawed my way painfully up the tree. The wind was beginning to pick up again and I slowly hauled myself to Wavepaw’s branch. “Don’t move,” I mewed, “I’ll get you down to safety.” Wavepaw shivered and he whispered, “Hurry, I can’t hold on much longer, Shade.” “I’m nearly there,” I told him through gritted teeth. I reached forward and my teeth snapped thin air. Fear shot through me and my paw flashed outwards, barely catching Wavepaw. He was screaming and he dug my claws into his pelt. I breathed in deeply as I slowly pulled him back to the tree. “I’ve got you now,” I murmured, “Come on.” We inched down the tree and I let out a sigh of relief as my paws touched down onto the ground. Wavepaw collapsed on the ground and Mosspaw let out a cry of joy as she crouched next to her brother. I watched the exchange in silence, knowing that losing Stonekit and their parents had made the two apprentices even more protective of each other. “Shade!” Brownhare called out, his pelt bushed out against the cold. “Let’s find shelter.” I open my mouth to agree with him, but another cool, comforting voice said. “That won’t be necessary, we can take you guys in.” I whirled around in surprise. “Who are you?” I blinked, bristling slightly. The rogue dipped her head politely. “I’m Sari. I’m the leader of a group. We stay and hunt around here. We know where to find the best prey and how to survive in a bad storm. Come.” I glanced at Brownhare worriedly, but he was already trotting after the light brown she-cat. “It can’t hurt to follow her,” the brown tom explained, “We have nowhere to go anyways.” Shrugging, I beckoned to the apprentices and to Frosty and Kitkat. Sari led us quickly through the white barren land and she suddenly veered to the side, entering a rather hidden camp. “Welcome to the home of the Free,” she purred, “It’s the best home you’ll have out here for awhile.” ~ It turned out that these cats knew how to hunt. There was a stack of leftover prey each night even after we all ate. And the next day they would still manage to catch more prey. The snowstorm didn’t die down until five days after Sari invited us in. The camp was fairly sheltered; there were woven brambles above the entire clearing to protect it from the snowfall. The wind didn’t get in the camp either. There was enough so we weren’t dying of heat or something, but not so much that we would feel the winter chills. I was not surprised that they could survive so well if they build this home somehow. Today, Sari was allowing me and Brownhare to hunt with them. “You might as well learn how to find prey in these lands,” she had advised, “after all you will probably leave the shelter of this camp soon, correct?” I had nodded. I didn’t really want to leave these cats. They were allies who could potentially help us in a crisis. But we had to go home. Brownhare met up with me at the entrance of the camp. “Are they waiting outside?” the brown tom asked, licking his paw. “Yeah,” I set my jaw, “They’re going over route plans right now so I decided to wait for you before joining them.” He licked my cheek and walked outside without another word. I froze, but quickly regained my composure. But when I journeyed outside, I couldn’t keep the silly grin off my face. Brownhare was smirking slightly, and I shot him a scathing look which only succeeded in increasing his smirk. Sari looked amused but she kept talking anyways. “As I was saying before our lovely guests came to join us, we’re going to go along the Rushing River to see if there’s any river creatures creeping by unnoticed.” She whirled around and called, “Let’s go!” before racing off. I grunted as I sped after them. Brownhare kept pace with me as I struggled to keep up with them. “She’s very direct,” I muttered, “Sometimes that’s not always a good thing.” Brownhare only laughed. “Do you see over there?” Sari slowed down to point out the bend in the river, “Those are the kinds of places voles like to hang out in.” She gestured to one of the toms – Raji, her brother – and he rushed off to go hunt. “Watch him,” she whispered, “he’s the best hunter we have.” I watched closely, desperate to learn the secrets of this land. Raji stopped as he neared the bend in the river and sniffed the air. He stiffened and then suddenly he darted from his spot and grasped a vole in his jaw. He proceeded this several times, each time succeeding to catch something. Sari taught us Raji’s tricks and asked if we wanted to try it. It took me a few tries to do it but Brownhare got the hang of it rather quickly. Later, we talked and learned bird techniques and the best places for mice. That night, when we returned to camp, I thanked Sari for everything she’s done. “Thanks really,” I told her, “you saved our lives and gave us a nice home for a bit. But I think we should go.” Sari nodded, “You need to get on with your journey,” she agreed, “and we cannot accompany you any further.” “I’ll get the others.” As I pad to the den, my heart heavy, I heard an alarmed mew. Wavepaw was talking to someone from the rogue group. “There’s nothing wrong with me, right? I’m not dying of something ridiculous, I can’t be.” I walked in there quickly to figure out what was wrong. Nobody was in there except Wavepaw and the rogue I recognized as Lehli. “He’s come down with a common sickness,” she informed me, “and I’ve moved all your friends to a safer den. He needs to stay here.” “What can I do for him?” I asked, panic spreading through me. Wavepaw was sick. We couldn’t leave. Wavepaw was sick. “I just need you all to stay put,” Lehli admitted, “For now, I need to treat my patient with whatever I have to ensure that he…lives.” The End. Category:Fan Fictions Category:Cchen3's Fanfics Category:Cold